Johnson: Dinosaur statue is no Godzilla

A 13-foot-tall dinosaur at Zoomars Petting Zoo on Los Rios Street in San Juan Capistrano has stirred controversy. The Capistrano Historical Alliance Committee objected, saying that "the dinosaur is offensive; (it) makes a mockery of the history of San Juan Capistrano and violates the sacred land and memories that represent all of what Los Rios Street is."PAUL BERSEBACH, THE ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER

It simply had to be the reason the San Juan Capistrano City Council voted last week to force Carolyn Franks to dismantle and remove the 40-foot apatosaurus statue she bought at an auction last June and installed at her Zoomars Petting Zoo in the city's Los Rios Historic District.

The statue just had to be quite the towering monster, I figured when I read of the decision, this raging, probably badly painted eyesore looming over homes and businesses, one that frightens the townsfolk and makes young children tremble and cry.

So the other day I pulled onto tiny Los Rios Street where the petting zoo resides.

I saw nothing.

The street, mind you, is so tiny and tucked so hard beside the railroad tracks that I passed it twice before finally finding it.

Yet there was no Godzilla or even an apatosaurus, at least not one that I could see, on this quaint, tree-lined street that does seem stuck in hundreds-of-years-ago time. With no sign to guide me, I had to ask where the petting zoo might be. I should have simply followed the children.

There were scores of them, each one walking with their parents or grandparents to Zoomars. Every one I asked said they were there to see the dinosaur.

It isn't until you make the short walk from the street, down a dirt pathway to the entrance of the zoo that you finally spot the statue, its neck craned as if to look at its long tail.

And this is the thing: There is nothing truly remarkable about it, really, except for the stir it has raised in this town over the last 10 months.

"Dinosaur Discovery Dig" reads a sign in front of the statue. "Pending city approval" is slathered atop it at an angle.

Little children skip and frolic beneath it, their parents and grandparents smile a contented smile.

"It is absurd, what they're doing," fumes Anne Aulenbach, 75, of Irvine, who with her husband, Bil, 87, was spending the afternoon at the zoo with their granddaughters, Molly, 7, and Kaya, 10.

"What is this hurting? Obviously the kids love it, and it's very educational for them to see the actual size of a dinosaur. I hope enough people sign a petition to force the city to change its mind."

"Maybe it's out of place with the little animals here. No, that can't be it," says Mario Peano, 71, of North Haledon, N.J., who has taken time out of his Laguna Beach vacation to take his daughter, Michelle, and her husband, Nick Lawler, both of Boston, to the zoo so their children, Harper, 3, and Everette, 1, could see the statue.

"Why do they want to take the dinosaur away?" Harper asked her father.

I get the sentiment. I am a bit of a fanatic about historic preservation, myself. Jerry Nieblas, president of the Capistrano Historical Alliance Committee, got some folks in town riled up over the statue, which he insists simply wasn't in keeping with the historic nature of the Los Rios neighborhood.

Granted, that area of town simply should not exist, and doesn't in any town I've been to lately. It oozes charming, small-town historic authenticity, something you figure could only exist in a book.

Yet Carolyn Frank's statue, and this is really the point, does not do a single whit of harm to any of it.

Indeed, her petting zoo also seems of another, more innocent time, with its llamas, chickens, sheep, goats and the tiny, brightly colored train that hauls excited little children in a tight loop. The apatosaurus, to me, looks right at home where it stands now.

Carolyn Franks greeted me at the front counter where employees cut and trimmed assorted vegetables that the children can purchase to feed the animals.

A 13-foot-tall dinosaur at Zoomars Petting Zoo on Los Rios Street in San Juan Capistrano has stirred controversy. The Capistrano Historical Alliance Committee objected, saying that "the dinosaur is offensive; (it) makes a mockery of the history of San Juan Capistrano and violates the sacred land and memories that represent all of what Los Rios Street is." PAUL BERSEBACH, THE ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER
Zoomars owner Carolyn Franks shows a toy apatosaurus and the lyrics to a song written by a supporter of the zoo's dinosaur statue, which San Juan Capistrano City Council voted to remove. ROB VARDON, ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER
Zoomars Petting Zoo owner Carolyn Franks placed this sign in front of the zoo's dinosaur statue to recognize Microsemi, whose president has contributed a total of $11,000 to the zoo's effort to keep the replica apatosaurus. ROB VARDON, ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER
San Clemente residents Keaton, 10, Zeke, 8, and Charis Rose, 4, pose with a 13-foot-tall replica apatosaurus at Zoomars Petting Zoo in San Juan Capistrano. They're wearing T-shirts designed by San Clemente resident Jason Pearson, who is supporting Zoomars' attempt to keep the statue despite an eviction order from the city of San Juan. ROB VARDON, ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER

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